updated 01:36 pm EDT, Thu July 25, 2013

First batch of employees culled as part of restructuring plan

BlackBerry has culled another 250 employees from its ranks, following on from the 5,000 members of staff it let go in the last financial year. The layoffs at the product-testing facility in Waterloo, Ontario took place on Tuesday, and forms part of the company's plan to eliminate even more workers as it tries to rectify its underwhelming financial situation.

A statement from spokesperson Lisette Kwon sent toTechCrunch states "I can confirm on the record, that BlackBerry on Tuesday informed 250 employees of their termination in Waterloo. These employees were part of the New Product Testing Facility, a department that supports BlackBerry's manufacturing and R&D efforts. This is part of the next stage of our turnaround plan to increase efficiencies and scale our company correctly for new opportunities in mobile computing." The company hopes to be "as transparent as possible as those plans evolve."

The group of 250 employees are not the only ones to have left the company in recent weeks. T.A. McCann, the vice president of social networking, senior director of handheld applications Marc Gingras, and David J. Smith, an executive that headed up the BlackBerry Playbook at the company, have all departed for various reasons. Richard Piasentin, the vice president for sales in the United States, has been fired from the company, rather than leaving of his own accord.